Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

4 reviews

talypollywaly's review

funny lighthearted fast-paced

3.0

I think people who rated this high listened to the audiobook. I did both and noticed that the laughing audience and less formal way of speaking in Sedaris's performances really made the audiobook more memorable. Also, he included a whole 30 minutes not in the book, and that was some of the funniest stuff in the whole audio. He excluded a couple of essays that were in the physical book, but considering I was already struggling to get through the book, I didn't mind it.

The author's humor is so... dated? Like very much "baby boomer" humor that is both inappropriate at times and too busy patting itself on the back with how "clever" one is- think 70s/80s SNL, if they were trying to write to get on-air at NPR.

Side note: I know it's "cool" to hate on SNL these days, but I do think it's not all irredeemable garbage. I grew up watching re-runs, so nostalgia works on me, too.

  Maybe I just mesh better with Gen X humor like Samantha Irby? Idk. He was also weirdly obsessed with xenophobia, in a weird, uniquely white way.

I won't be debating this lol. I have come across far too many LGBT white people in real life and online that are obsessed with finding ways they're "oppressed" to excuse their white privilege, so this put me off.

I have other personal opinions I won't be adding here because this is getting too long.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia

ashleycmms's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Bullying

Moderate: Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Animal death

anxiousanura's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.0

This book was overwhelmingly mediocre. I've liked Sedaris' writing in the past. He has a strong style and seems to take particular pleasure in describing the most disgusting aspects of life (ex. bowel movements, rotten food, etc.). This is a great strength in his writing that seems to add to his comedic style. He didn't shy away from it in this book, but the humor rarely landed. His writing tends to be reflective highlighting his experiences and his thought processes. This book was no different, but the humor in this reflection was weak. 

The book wasn't bad. It just wasn't anything to write home about either. The anecdotes about his sister, Amy, and partner, Hugh, were the most interesting in the entire book and the most fun. The rest were mildly amusing. It's a good read for a slow afternoon if you have nothing better to do. I would suggest borrowing it from the library rather than buying it yourself.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Ableism, Xenophobia, Violence, Death, and Animal death

Minor: Animal cruelty, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Rape, Sexual content, and Vomit

Ableism

There is a story with a little person as a primary character. The M word is used liberally. The individual man is dehumanized by a kid and society at large.

Rape

Amy made a joke that David is going to court for rape. This is not true. It was a joke to make him hated by everyone on a bus as a prank. It is stated in passing and then never acknowledged again.

Grief and Death

He mentions the death of his mom a few times in the story. It is mentioned that his father might be using his dog as a replacement for his mother. There is also a story involving each of his childhood pets dying. It is not treated with any true gravity.

Fatphobia, Misogyny and Sexism

His father is extremely focused on how the daughters in the family look. He heavily stigmatizes their weight and makes numerous comments about how they will never find a man and must exercise to not let themselves go. Their worth is tied to their looks and their weight. Eating disorders are encouraged. His father gets pranked by his sister and is swindled into exercising when he makes these claims, but he doesn't regret doing it and doesn't change his views for a second. He's just relieved that Amy isn't actually fat like he thought.

moosegurl's review

funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.75

A classic.

 "And there's a reason regular people don't appear on TV. We're boring."

" 'Here in France, the chocolate is brought by a big bell that flies in from Rome.'
I called for a time-out.
'But how do the bell know where you live?'
'Well,' she said, 'how does a rabbit?'
It was a decent point, but at least a rabbit has eyes, that's a start. Rabbits move from place to place while most bells can only go back and forth, and they can't even do that on their own power. On top of that, the Easter Bunny has character; he's someone you'd like to meet and shake hands with. A bell has all the personality of a cast-iron skillet."

"There are only so many times a grown man can listen to The Wind in the Willows, so I was eventually forced to consider the many French tapes given as subtle hints by our neighbors back in Normandy. I tried listening to The Misanthrope and Fontaine's fables, but they were just too dense for me. I'm much too lazy to make that sort of an effort. Besides, if I wanted to hear people speaking wall-to-wall French, all I had to do was remove my headphones and participate in what is known as Real Life, a concept as uninviting as a shampoo cocktail."

"When asked, 'what do we need to learn this for?,' any high school teacher can confidently answer that regardless of the subject, the knowledge will come in handy once the student hits middle age and starts working crossword puzzles in order to stave off the terrible loneliness." 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Xenophobia